27 rue Fleurus

These two sculptures of artists were part of a suite of six, and the images of the paintings represented in the pieces were part of the collection of Gertrude Stein. They hung in her apartment at 27 rue Fleurus in Paris.

Pierre Bonnard – “La Sieste” from 1900 is in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. This is a painting of Marthe Boursin, Bonnard’s companion who he later married. The pose is based on a classical sculpture of Hermaphrodite that may be seen in the Louvre Museum in Paris

Juan Gris – “Still life with Seltzer Bottle, Newspaper, and Glass” from 1915 or 1916 was part of a group of 47 paintings, 38 by Picasso and 9 by Gris purchased from the Gertrude Stein estate by David Rockefeller, John Hay Whitney, William S. Paley, Nelson Rockefeller, and André Meyer and given as a gift to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Stein turned to collecting and understanding the great value of Gris’ work when Picasso’s paintings became too expensive.